Electrical filter connectors are well known and are used in electronic systems susceptible to unwanted signals such as radio frequency interference or other noise. Typically, filter connectors comprise a pair of separable connector members having multiple pairs of mating contacts. One of the connector members, a filter connector member, is provided with filter contacts each of which has a mating end and a wire receiving end. The filter contacts are of fragile construction and are mounted within the connector shell so as to be isolated from external forces that may be applied to the ends of the contacts. Typically, the filter elements are encapsulated so that they are not removable from the connector shell. The other connector member, a filterless connector member, is provided with contacts which have no filter element incorporated therein, i.e. filterless contacts. Typically, the filterless contacts are removably mounted within the connector shell. Such a filter connector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,386 to Krantz et al. Other filter connectors of this general type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,710,285 to Schor, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,569,915 to Sorensen et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,869 to Paoli.
Since the filter connector member is provided with filter contacts which are not removable from the connector shell, a malfunction in one of the filter contacts requires removal and replacement of the filter connector member. This entails connecting each contact of the replacement connector member to each of the corresponding wires. Further, if a malfunction occurs in the wire receiving end of one or more contacts the entire filter connector member must be removed and replaced. The filter connector member is costly and the replacement operation which requires individual reconnection of multiple contacts with corresponding wires is a time consuming operation.
A general object of this invention is to obviate certain of the disadvantages in prior art filter connectors.